As Mets Open Camp, the Astros’ Shadow Looms Large

Cespedes sustained the injury last May while escaping a wild boar on his ranch, the kind of wait … what? … REALLY? incident that is baked into life as a Met. Familiarity with the team’s distinct, peculiar culture should only help Rojas, who managed in the Mets’ farm system for eight years before joining Mickey Callaway’s major league staff last season. He is 38 and has never managed in the majors, but his organizational and family backgrounds are encouraging.

“I know the guys pretty well, and the guys know me back,” said Rojas, whose father, Felipe Alou, played and managed in the majors for decades. “We’ve had good relationships throughout the years.”

The hurried transition from coach to manager will not be an issue, Rojas said, because of his coaching staff, which stayed intact when Beltran was fired. Brian Schneider was bumped up from his assignment as Class AAA manager to take Rojas’ old job.

“I’m very confident leading the guys,” Rojas said. “The main reason for that is the coaching staff. We’ve been working in collaboration almost the entire off-season. You almost feel like it was attached. Going into the off-season and coming into spring training, we saw each other all the time.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/sports/baseball/mets-spring-training.html?emc=rss&partner=rss